Facebook page warns against offensive posts

Manama, February 12, 2012

The Facebook page, UK in Bahrain, created by the British Embassy, has issued a warning to its followers to tone down their comments after an increase in political and offensive posts.

The page was created by the embassy to alert its followers about events taking place in the country and offers them a platform to share comments and advice.

British residents post information such as traffic situation, protests and road blocks to help fellow Britons get around Bahrain.

British residents post information such as traffic situation, protests and road blocks to help fellow Britons get around Bahrain.

However, administrators had to issue the warning following incidents where users had violated the page's regulations.

They have now asked all users to adhere to certain rules when posting comments on the page.

'We have become concerned by the increasing number of personal, political and abusive postings on our Facebook page by a few users,' said the warning.

'We would like to keep the page open as a medium through which we can post information and the UK community can share valuable updates and advice. Unfortunately we simply do not have the resources to monitor the page around the clock, which means we rely heavily on users to self-regulate.

'There will always be occasions when postings we would not want to see have the chance to remain for some time before we can address or remove/ban them.

'But if the guidance is not more closely adhered to in future, we regret we will have to limit the page to being available only for the embassy to post information, in common with most British and foreign embassies in the region.'

An embassy spokesman said that efforts were being made to monitor the page regularly.

'We are doing our best with checks but we cannot monitor it 24-7,' said the spokesman. – TradeArabia News Service